Marionette Syndrome
by Seitei
Summary: What will one do to succeed in life? Kat will do anything to be a Smasher. Anything. First songfic. Inspired by song with the same name. Oneshot.


**Submitted as a challenge to rule #27 of AuraChannelerChris' Successful Fanfiction guide. Love ya, man. :3**

**Well, here's another oneshot by yours truly. I've been listening to some Vocaloid songs and this one really hit home for me. I hope you guys enjoy reading this. It is also recommended to have the song playing too. :D**

**WARNING: This is not a happy story.**

***insert generic disclaimer here*

* * *

**

"It's a new day, yes sirree!"

Stretching her arms, Kat yowled. She grinned as she looked at the poster of the recent tournament. Run by Master Hand every second year, she was given the honour of being an "Assist Trophy," a character who could be summoned in the middle of a match to assist the fighters. Master Hand had announced at the beginning of the tournament that the assist trophy who did the most in matches. Of course, they were chosen at random, so they did their best every time they were summoned.

Today's match was between Ike and Link, two of the most skilled fighters of the bunch. The two had fought many times, and out of those many times, Link was only head of Ike by one KO. Usually, their matches were timed out.

Kat walked over to Ana, nudging her. "Ana, wake up! It's almost time!" Ana moaned as she opened her bleary eyes. Muttering, she changed into her battle garb, Kat following suit.

* * *

Ana pulled on Kat's sleeve and dragged her after her. "Come on, let's get something to eat!"

The two of them stopped by Toadette's Diner. The cheery hostess greeted the two regulars as they walked in. "Hello, you two! The usual, I suppose?" Kat nodded enthusiastically. They were led to a small table beside the window, where one could see the daily festivities. Across from them was a boutique run by a female koopa. If they remembered correctly, her name was Madame Koopalina the Third. The strangest thing was that there was something for everyone. In fact, that was where the two sisters received their clothes, and at a great bargain, too!

"Here you go," Toadette said. She placed several plates on the table. "Milk, a Fire Flower Omelet, and our famous toast. Hope you girls enjoy your meal! Bon appetit!" she called as she twirled away.

"Toadette sure is nice, isn't she," said Ana as she bit into the bread. "It's amazing how she puts up with half of the stuff that happens here." As if on cue, a big burly Koopa in the middle of the restaurant got up, nostrils flaring as the Goomba beside him began hurling obscenities like a wounded sailor. The next second, there was an all-out brawl in the diner as patrons were dragged into the fight.

"Let's go, Kat!" said Ana. Although the two were sisters, they had rather conflicting personalities. Whereas Kat was always energetic and always ready for any conflict, Ana was reserved, and always planning the next course of action. "I really don't want any trouble--" but halfway through asking her sister to stay out of it, she was long gone from her side and present in the flurry of fists and legs.

As Kat was about to land a punch on a green Shy Guy, a shot ran throughout the diner. Toadette was behind the bar, toting a shotgun, wisps of smoke emanating from the barrel. There was a gaping hole in the ceiling. "Now, I'll ask once, and only once," she said sweetly. "Please do not ever fight in here again. There's more where that came from." She smiled as she cocked the gun. The brawlers either left or returned to their seats, shaking with fear. "Now I'm going to have to ask the Hammer Bros. to fix this again," she said, sighing.

"Come on, let's _go_," said Ana. Kat didn't object.

* * *

After leaving the diner, they were soon at the foot of the Coliseum Tower, where all the fights took place on top of a midair stadium at the roof of this tower. There were screens that would replace the windows of several floors whenever a match was underway, so that those who were not at the scene could still watch the match.

"Good morning, Miss Kat and Miss Ana," greeted the receptionist. The two nodded in acknowledgement. She was a purple-tinted Boo with a red bow on her head. "Have a good day," she called after them as they walked past. The two entered the glass elevator at the end of the hall and pressed the button for the 69th floor, where the Assistant Trophies prepared.

As they went up, Kat looked out the building, her eyes dropped, lacking the energy she always had for a moment, but Ana caught it. "Are you ok, Kat?"

"Hmm? What do you mean? Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. Why? Why are you asking?" asked Kat in return, a little too hastily. Before Ana could reply, the doors opened into a corridor with a large room at the end. The two of them opened the door and was met with a loud storm of chatter.

Mr. Resetti was working on his lines, should he be summoned, much to the chagrin of the other assists, as he was always obnoxiously loud. Meanwhile, Tingle was in the corner doing his "Kooloo Loompah Dance," which included some very disturbing and child-unfriendly dance moves. As he danced, an aura of uneasiness filled the room. "Well," Little Mac, a well-known boxer said as he was boxing Knuckle Joe, "that's a pretty uncanny skill."

"Yeah, unlike little seastar here," muttered Barbara, lazily strumming a song on her guitar.

"Hey! You take that back!" shouted Stafy angrily. "I am a prince, and as such, I deserve to be treated wit--" No one paid any attention to anything he said next.

Kat and Ana set down their stuff by the tables, taking out their lunches and labeling them, so that no one would dare to steal their food. The intercom in the corner of the room chimed. "Attention. Please note that the match between Ike and Link will commence in five minutes. Please make your way to the midair stadium. Thank you."

"You ready, Kat?" asked Ana.

"You bet I am!" she yelled as she pumped her fist into the air. As she did so, she caught a glimpse of Lyn out of the corner of her eye. She was looking straight at Kat with a forlorn, almost empty, glance. Kat looked away not out of general discomfort, but guilt.

There was a knock on the door, and the Devil opened the door to find Goombario, one of Mario's partners during the hunt for the Star Rod. "Hey, guys! What's up?" he asked.

"Oh, nothing much. What are you doing here? You're not allowed to be here, aren't you?" asked Ana

"Well... I won't get in trouble if you don't tell anyone. So how--"

"May I please have your attention. The match between Ike and Link is now underway. Thank you." As if on cue, a loud roar erupted from the audience above.

"Oh, gotta run, guys! See ya!" And he was out of there in no time. The screen in the corner blipped and the match was shown from the side in real time. Items appeared in the air as the two scrambled to get them first. There were Hotheads, Koopa Shells, and even a Piplup that surfed back and forth on the stage. Finally, an Assist Trophy appeared on the stage. One could feel everyone holding in their breath. Finally, Link touched it.

As he did, Mr. Resetti began to glow an eerie white, and as the glass of the item broke, he vanished and was already ranting about the disadvantages of resetting on the stage, which somehow annoyed only Ike. His slashes became random, and just as he slashed down, Link moved in and pierced him. Ike was sent flying off the stage.

A few minutes later, both of them were down to their last life, damage percentages high. Both Ike and Link were panting heavily when they heard the clink of an item appearing above them. It was another Assist Trophy, and as Ike grabbed it and raised it above his head, Kat and Ana were teleported onto the stage, floating in midair.

"Looks like we're going after Link this time, huh, Kat," said Ana.

"Yep. C'mon, let's get to it!" The two flew to separate boundaries of the stage, and aiming for Link, they executed an X-formation slash, causing Link to shoot off the stage.

"GAME! The winner is... Ike!"

Both sisters were teleported back into the Assist Trophy room as applause erupted from the audience. All the other assistants joined in on the cheering.

"Great job out there, guys!" shouted Little Mac.

Kat blushed. "Aw, geez, Mac, it wasn't nothing."

"It was very kooloo-loompah!" cried Tingle as he did his dance.

"Um, thanks, Tingle," said Ana, backing away carefully with her hand around the hilt of her blade.

As they were about a few steps from the door, Lyn blocked their path. "Congratulations, Kat," she said stiffly. Her gaze was cold.

"Um, thanks, Lyn?" Lyn moved out of the way, but her eyes were fixed on Kat, with an intense hatred burning in her eyes.

"Kat? Is something wrong?" asked Ana, as they entered the elevator.

"What? No, it's nothing..." The two rode down the elevator, content with the results of the match.

"When the doors opened for the lobby, they were in for a surprise.

* * *

"Why, hello there, Kat." The three only female Smashers, Peach, Samus, and Zelda were waiting for the Iga sisters, looking all-important. "May we have a moment with you?"

"P-Peach, how nice to see you."

Ana butted in. "It's nice to see you three, but Kat and I have plans. So if we may pass..." Samus' eyes narrowed, and Kat got the message.

"Ana, you go on ahead first." Curiosity ran across Ana's face, but she said nothing and took her leave.

"So what do you want to talk about, Peach?"

"Well, I just want to congratulate you on 'talking' to Lyn." She smiled sweetly. "We've decided you're almost ready enough for us to go talking to Master Hand about you becoming a fighter in the next tournament."

Kat's eyes lit up with joy. "Really?"

Peach smiled again. "Really."

"Though you just need to do something else for us..." said Zelda.

"Ah, yes, that's right," said Peach. Kat's eyebrows drooped.

"Really? But I've done so much already, and I really don't want to--"

"If you want to become one of us, then you must."

Kat hesitated. This would be the seventh time she'd hurt someone, and she really wanted it to end. But just one more, right?

"Alright, who?"

Samus stepped up, her icy blue eyes fixed on Kat. "Your sister needs a lesson or two. Tell us all the stuff she'd rather people not know." Kat took a step back.

"I-I can't do that! She's my sister!"

Peach walked up to her and put a gloved hand on her shoulder. "It's all right, Kat. Smile for us! Just tell us one itty-bitty thing about her. It doesn't have to be big."

Well, it's just one little thing, right?

_Marionette Syndrome_

_Smiling like a cute little doll_  
_The voice of my ugly self  
Spews poison today as well  
In order to protect myself_

Kat forced a smile. "Well, sometimes she can be too cautious. It can be pretty annoying every once in a while."

Peach nodded. "Go on, go on!" And before she knew it, Kat was blurting out all of her sister's dirty secrets. As she was doing so, she glanced out the glass doors and saw a lock of orange hair disappear around the corner.

"Oh--"

"Very good, Kat! See, I told you that was easy!"

"Um, thanks, so... will I get in?"

_I'll become one of those girls  
Or at least that's what I thought at first  
After all, those girls  
Are also liars, right?_

"We don't think you're ready yet," Zelda cut in. "Just a bit more." Samus and Peach nodded.

_There aren't any kind people, there aren't  
There aren't, there aren't, there aren't  
A heart that's been injured hurts, it hurts  
It hurts, it hurts, it hurts_

"Have a nice day, Kat!" The three laughed as they strolled away. Running hurriedly, Kat ran out the doors, looking for her sister. All the while, she saw passers-by, and she could swear that they were giving her the evil eye, glaring at her, looking down on her.

She rounded the corner and found Ana, turned away from her. "H-Hey Ana, what's up?"

_Hiding sadness and insecurity  
You pretended to laugh, however  
The moment I glanced at your eyes  
Tears looked like they were about to leak out_

"Huh?" Ana turned to Kat with a fixed smile. "Oh, nothing, I was just waiting for you. So should we go now?" she laughed. Her blue eyes locked with her sister's. Kat felt uneasy as the two of them walked off together.

_Don't look at me anymore..._

* * *

_There isn't anyone who'll entrust anything to their right hand  
And are clumsy with their left  
I stumble even today  
Only nodding_

Over the next few weeks, Kat became Peach's little rat. Those offended had no idea what happened as people began to avoid them for whatever reason. Kat had become accustomed to this new life: bringing up dirt when told. She was also given the task of agreeing with everything Peach said, lest the princess change her mind about asking Master Hand about her probable promotion.

_In order to get on their good side  
Who should I hate next?  
After all,  
I'm just someone's marionette._

Do this, do that. That was Kat's daily routine now. Ana was still around, but she closed off herself from Kat, who was too busy snitching to notice. Even the Smashers themselves were confused as to how these nasty rumours about them started.

_Right now, it's as if I'm  
In a different body that doesn't understand  
Because I'm a doll,  
I don't expect a bright future for me._

Kat became numb to everyone. No longer did she feel the sweetness of Toadette's hospitality, or the receptionist's polite greeting. They were empty, hollow words that meant nothing in her mind. She had grown so accustomed to this lifestyle, she never pestered Peach again about her promise (which needless to say, she didn't keep).

Eventually, word got out that Kat was the one spreading these rumours, and everyone began avoiding her. She didn't care. Even when Little Mac started to give her the cold shoulder, she went and prepared for the matches with her reluctant sister.

_My eyes reflected in the mirror  
Laugh at your scars  
Your tears have dried  
And you wander_

After another match that ended with Pikachu gossip, Kat returned home alone. Ana arrived first, and did not respond to Kat's "hey." The older sister went into the bathroom, cleaning up after the match in Norfair and closed the door mostly. Man, that stage was always hot!

What Kat saw in the mirror shocked her. Her eyes had lost their cheerfulness. Instead, they had been replaced by cynicism. It was the gaze of a sadist. Slipping a peek through the crack of the door, she saw Ana sitting by the table, a lone tear running down her cheek.

Kat felt a pang of shame. She wanted to go console her sister, but by now it was too late. Everyone in town had gotten wind of Kat's dirty work, and the three Smashers who coerced her? They got off scot-free.

_I'm controlled by strings that cannot be cut  
And I'm living the life of a string puppet  
Even if I try to run and hide  
Nothing will change_

In the dark of the night, when everyone was asleep, Kat snuck out of the house with a few belongings. She looked back, and whispered, "I'm sorry, Ana." And she began her trek into the dark, never to be heard from again.

_Just destroy me already...

* * *

_

**And so that concludes this oneshot on spreading vicious lies. I hope you all enjoyed this!**** Seitei signing off!**


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